Journal

Criminal Justice Ethics

is a peer-reviewed journal designed to focus greater attention on ethical issues in criminal justice by philosophers, criminal justice professionals, lawyers and judges, and the general public. Published three times a year by Routledge, its editorial scope includes topics relating to the law enforcement, the courts, punishment and corrections, and issues in legal philosophy.

All agents of the criminal justice system face difficult problems involving moral choice: the use of deadly force, conformity to the rules of one’s office; the decision to prosecute; participation in plea bargaining; representation of the accused and the imposition of punishment. Even the concept of criminal justice itself is rooted in our concern for the proper treatment of those accused of wrongdoing. Yet, while these subjects have provoked widespread interest among the public, they have rarely received systematic analysis from a normative perspective.

Criminal Justice Ethics seeks to provide this perspective. It is not limited to any specific disciplinary boundaries and one of its main editorial aims is to speak effectively to a wide range of specialists and to the educated layman. Thus, it seeks to maintain a high level of rigor without limiting itself to the issues and idiom of just one or another area of specialization. It is genuinely interdisciplinary in ways that reflect the real complexity of the issues addressed. Articles and reviews in the journal—many of them by some of the most influential persons currently working on issues in criminal justice—speak to the needs and interests of scholars, practitioners, and students.